Ayurveda

By now in this Ayurveda 101 series, we’ve developed a deep understanding of the Mahabhutas, their archetypal qualities, and how they show in every single aspect of our lives.

Turmeric, a bright-yellow-hued root spice, has been used in cooking, medicine, and cultural ceremonies for thousands of years, especially in South Asia. Practitioners of both western healthcare and Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient holistic healing system with Indian roots, have lauded this plant’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Welcome to the final article of the chakra series. We have reached the crown, the seat of cosmic consciousness and divine intelligence. This is the center that transcends all the individuality that your lower chakras have worked so hard to create. This is where you step into the experience that ALL IS ONE.

We have journeyed through the lowest three chakras of the body: the chakras that give us a sense of standing on solid ground, a sense of personal identity to live our life through. These first three chakras are the foundation on which we stand. There is a rule in writing that you have to know all the rules before you are allowed to break them. The first three chakras are the rules of life. 

Drum roll, please. This is the moment we have all been waiting for. This, my friends, is the 4th chakra, the heart chakra.

Welcome to part three of the seven part chakra series. Today we celebrate the third chakra, the solar plexus chakra. This is a power house of an energy center.  When this chakra is spinning harmoniously there is no stopping what you are capable of doing, nor is there a limit to the energy available to do it with. When it is off though, boy can the ego run amuck. You know self-doubt and boisterousness are two sides of the same coin, right? They are both ego: polarity expression of the same essence.

You wave your ice cream cone in front of your friend’s face when you know she is on a diet…and it falls flat on the ground.

You notice that the tire that needed constant filling with air—and which you ignored—is now flat just as you are heading out the door to attend a special event. You won’t make it there in time, now.

You try to keep up with the flexible person next to you in yoga class, and wake up the next morning with a sore back and neck.

The chakra system is a system that EVERY human being has, whether you believe in energy or not. The chakras are powerful energy centers that can be found along the spinal column with two extending into the head. Last time, we focused on the root chakra.

To those of you, who are relatively new to the world of energy, welcome. To those seasoned few I invite you into beginner’s mind.

Have you ever noticed that you find yourself drawn to one particular season over another?

Perhaps you are a chaser of the sun and avoid cold climates at all cost. Maybe you are more of the snow bunny type and become irritably uncomfortable with higher temperatures and humidity. Or perhaps overcast, rainy days are your jam.